Monday, June 29, 2009

for just about the most fun I've experienced in sobriety -- about 7 hours with 15 other friends in recovery as we decorated vehicles, then waited for hours in the extreme heat (together) at the staging area for the Gay Pride Parade. The Parade took 2 hours itself, and I got to drive the convertible which presented Mr & Miss Lambda 2009.

that I got to meet and hold conversation with Annise Parkerand Carlos Obando, who are running campaigns for Houston Mayor and City Council. Both are openly gay candidates, but stand for much more than just that.

that Scott W. celebrates another birthday today and he does it as a sober man

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

What nine letter word in the English language is still a word when the nine letters are removed one by one?Take a few minutes to try and come up with a nine letter word that fits the bill, then watch the attached video.... Well, just watch the video....because you're never going figure it out!

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I get to stay sober again today

for the rituals we follow at the beginning of AA meetings -- it helps me get centered for the meeting

that I was rarely a physically violent person (except a couple of times when I was really drunk)

that I still seem to be going through mental pause

for air conditioning -- it was 101 deg yesterday

He that is afraid to shake the dice will never throw a six.- Chinese Proverb

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Saturday, June 20, 2009

A Kansas farm wife called the local phone company to report her telephone failed to ring when her friends called - and that on the few occasions when it did ring, her dog always moaned right before the phone rang.

The telephone repairman proceeded to the scene, curious to see this psychic dog or senile lady. He climbed a telephone pole, hooked in his test set, and dialed the subscriber's house. The phone didn't ring right away, but then the dog moaned and the telephone began to ring. Climbing down from the pole, the telephone repairman found:

1. The dog was tied to the telephone system's ground wire with a steel chain and collar.

2. The wire connection to the ground rod was loose.

3. The dog was receiving 90 volts of signaling current when the number was called.

4. After a couple of jolts, the dog would start moaning and then urinate.

5. The wet ground would complete the circuit, thus causing the phone to ring.

Which demonstrates that some problems CAN be fixed by pissing and moaning.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Here is a nice little tidbit of information. If any of you are wondering why I won't return something to you that said something like 'if I don't get this back I'll....or, 'See how many flowers or hugs you can get back', or 'Forward this to 10 people in the next 5 mins.. or something bad will happen to you', etc.

The following is one reason why I will not send them back.

Advice from Snopes.com <>

1) Any time you see an E-Mail that says forward this on to '10' of your friends, or sign this petition, or you'll get bad luck, good luck, or whatever, it almost always has an E-Mail tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and E-Mails of those folks you forward to.

The host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded and then is able to get lists of 'active' E-Mails to use in SPAM E-Mails, or sell to other spammers.

2) Almost all E-Mails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others are similar to that mass letter years ago that asked people to send business cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most cards.

All it was, and all any of this type of E-Mail is, is a way to get names and 'cookie ' tracking information for telemarketers and spammers - - to validate active E-Mail accounts for their own profitable purposes.

You can do your friends and family members a GREAT favor (PLEASE) by sending this information to them; you will be providing a service to your friends, and will be rewarded by not getting thousands of spam E-Mails in the future!

If you have been sending out (FORWARDING) the above kinds of E-Mail, now you know why you get so much SPAM!

Do yourself a favor and STOP adding your name(s) to those types of listings regardless how inviting they might sound!You may think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT in the long run. Instead, you will be getting tons of junk mail later! Plus, we are helping the spammers get rich! Let's don't make it easy for them!

Also: E-Mail petitions are NOT acceptable to Congress or any other organization. To be acceptable, petitions must have a signed signature and full address of the person signing the petition. Make a hard copy and sign and MAIL by US mail.

Read the full story here:http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/internet.asp <>

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that alcohol wasn't the problem (much to my surprise)

that I enjoy participating in my recovery and don't have to go to meetings (instead, I get to go to meetings)

for John C., who gave me the above thoughts as we talked and ate dinner last night; he doesn't have a blog, so I stole these to put here

Thursday, June 18, 2009

that by the end of my first year of sobriety, I had made the necessary changes to help build a strong recovery foundation

that I've been able to modify my life to fit my recovery

that Scott W.filled in at the last minute when my scheduled speaker could not appear; Scott does/did an amazing job of explaining his feelings behind his drinking

that I laid some paving flagstone all by myself (in this damn heat!)

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.- Theodore Roosevelt

Addendum --- I was outside in my hot tub at 5am (after publishing this post) as I am every morning before jumping in the shower. At the same moment I looked skyward I witnessed a beautiful meteorite burning up in the atmosphere, leaving its long trail. It was a lovely God shot and a great way to begin my day.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, 'Common Sense', who has been with us for many years.

No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:· Knowing when to come in out of the rain;· why the early bird gets the worm;· Life isn't always fair; and· maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by· simple, sound financial policies: (don't spend more than you can earn) and· reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.

· Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate;· teens suspended from school for using mouth wash after lunch; and· a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student,

only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost further ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot.She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by· his parents, Truth and Trust.· his wife, Discretion,· his daughter, Responsibility,· his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;· I Know My Rights;· I Want It Now;· Someone Else Is To Blame;· I'm A Victim.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

In a small town on the South Coast the holiday season is in full swing, but it is raining, so there is not too much business happening. Everyone is heavily in debt.Luckily, a rich tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel. He asks for a room and puts a £100 note on the reception counter,takes a key and goes to inspect the room located up the stairs on the third floor.

The hotel owner takes the bank note in a hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he owes £100.The butcher takes the money and races to his supplier to pay his debt.The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay £100 for pigs he purchased some time ago.The farmer triumphantly gives the £100 note to a local prostitute who gave him her services on credit.The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she was owing the hotel for her hourly room use to entertain clients.At that moment, the rich tourist came back down to reception.He informs the hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory.He takes back his £100 and departs.

There was no profit or income. But everyone no longer has any debt and the townspeople look optimistically towards their future.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

the updated landscape project -- those little trees and the gray moonrocks and the borders are all new. The 1965 Riviera provides a sweet background.

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for the power of time

for the 6:30am meeting I attend every weekday; yesterday, we read about the sobering of Bill D., AA's 3rd member

for glimpses of sanity

that 14 of us got together for a really nice lunch at Baba Yega's as a sort of farewell to Hayden's mom who has been visiting for the past 2 weeks

for someone who has returned to the noon meetings after a 3-year absence. Now I know why I come to meetings every day. This person looks they they have aged 10-15 years in those 3 years. Apparently, crack and crystal meth will do that to you.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

A rancher's widow needed help to run the ranch, so she advertised in the local paper for a hired hand.Two cowboys applied for the job. One was gay and the other a drunk.She thought long and hard about it, and when no one else applied she decided to hire the gay guy, figuring it would be safer to have him around the house than the drunk..He proved to be a hard worker who put in long hours every day and knew a lot about ranching.For weeks, the two of them worked, and the ranch was doing very well.Then one day, the rancher's widow said to the hired hand, 'You have done a really good job, and the ranch looks great. You should go into town and kick up your heels.'The hired hand readily agreed and went into town one Saturday night.One o'clock came, however, and he didn't return.Two o'clock came and still no hired hand.Finally he returned around two-thirty, and upon entering the room, he found the rancher's widow sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, waiting for him.She quietly called him over to her.Unbutton my blouse and take it off,' she said.Trembling, he did as she directed.'Now take off my boots.' He did as she asked, ever so slowly..'Now take off my socks.' He removed each gently and placed them neatly by her boots.'Now take off my skirt'. He slowly unbuttoned it, constantly watching her eyes in the fire light.'Now take off my bra'. Again, with trembling hands, he did as he was told and dropped it to the floor.Then she looked at him and said, 'If you ever wear my clothes into town again, you're fired'.

I know that's been around awhile, but I love it. LOL

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I was in first grade the last time I was sober for this length of time

for seemingly constant reminders lately that my recovery must come before anything else; it's because of my recovery that anything else is possible

for some really powerful first step meetings over the past few days

That they may have a little peace, even the best dogs are compelled to snarl occasionally.- William Feather

Monday, June 08, 2009

for more reminders that I need to strive for patience (for myself and my fellow man), love (for myself and my fellow man) and tolerance (for myself and my fellow man)

for recovery fellowship in so many forms; yesterday, I spent time with 6 others at a late breakfast then went to a baseball game with 3 others. These are things that I now pursue, because left to my own instinct, I would sit at home alone.

that I get so many things done, almost daily

that I'm up and about very early (even for me) this morning and will head to the gym @ 5am

that I know what I did last night, but not what you did last summer

It's not how much you have that makes people look up to you, it's who you are.- Elvis Presley

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Friday, June 05, 2009

from downtown Galveston, Texas... Col. Bubbies is a well-known army surplus store. I was curious as to the spelling of the word "senter".

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I have 2,100 days continuous days of sobriety and I am SOOOOOOOOO glad I only had to do them one day at a time!!

that I can occasionally surrender my will to my HP and when I do, good things seem to happen

that I drove Hayden and his Mom to Galveston for a short look-see and we had a nice lunch; it's being reconstructed after last September's Hurricane Ike, but there's a whole lot to do. I don't believe that the island can ever be the same.

Whatever you do or dream you can do— begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.- Johann Goethe

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

for the psychic change I had just at the right time (isn't that how it works for us?)

that I've been fortunate enough to keep taking forward steps, with just a few setbacks since getting sober

for more lessons that I should not judge a book by its cover -- nor an alcoholic by the way he/she appears

for memories -- for some reason, I've been reminiscing about my years in the oil industry. My travels and all the people I associated with. For you latecomers, I was lucky enough to live and work in 25+ countries over the last 8 years of a 20-year career.

Monday, June 01, 2009

Susan Boyle lost.Here'sthe act that beat her in the finals of Britain's Got Talent.Thanks, Scott W. for passing it along to me.

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for a really enjoyable sobriety birthday celebration on Saturday - at Lambda, we celebrate annual birthdays on the last Saturday of the month, instead of doing them on the actual day. For May, there were 31 celebrants with a total of 420 years of sobriety.

for a weekend of beautiful weather with only a few clouds. But it was hot.

stuff about me

A POSITIVE ATTITUDE MAY NOT SOLVE ALL OF MY PROBLEMS,
BUT IT WILL ANNOY ENOUGH PEOPLE TO MAKE IT WORTH THE EFFORT.
I am an
alcoholic and a
sarcastic smart-ass.
I am recovering from the alcoholism.
My first and only sobriety date is September 5, 2003.